Shoe holder



.Sept. 21, 1937.-- 'w. H. BROWN 250935802 SHOE HOLDER Original Filed April 9, 1932 IMVLNTOR,

.A T TO RM 21:9

Patented Sept. 21, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 9, 1932, Serial No. 604,286 Renewed July 2, 1936 5 Claims.

This invention relates to shoe holders, and has for an object the provision of a new and improved article of this character.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application I have shown, for purposes of illustration, certain embodiments which my invention may assume, and in this drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of one embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1, while Figure 3 is a, perspective View disclosing a different embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 the embodiment therein disclosed comprises a shoe holder l0 made of sheet metal or other suitable material, provided with a cup-shaped support I, having a closed end l2, from which depends a flange l3, and disposed in the end I 2 are apertures I l, through which are inserted screws to secure the support H to a molding l5 located in a clothespress or the like. When the support H is so secured the outer periphery l6 of the depending flange l3 bears against the molding l5.

The end I2 is further provided with apertures l'l offset with respect to the center of the support II and through which extends a wire l8 intermediate its ends l9 and 20. That portion of the wire 2| which contacts with the support I l is disposed adjacent a major portion of the depend ing flange l3 and it also bears against the molding l5 when the support l l is secured thereto.

The wire l8 extends outwardly and upwardly with respect to the support I I as is indicated at 22, and its ends l9 and 20 are welded obliquely to a shoe-tree 23, having a curved surface 24 terminating in a curved flanged tip 25 shaped to substantially conform with a toe-cap and vamp of a normal unworn shoe, and from which the toe-cap 27 and the vamp 2B of a worn shoe 26 can be suspended.

In use, my invention straightens the sole of a shoe after it has been worn and consequently removes the wrinkles in the toe-cap and vamp of the shoe, which wrinkles were caused by the upward curving of the end of the sole while the shoe was being worn. The shoe 26, after it has been worn, is placed over the shoe-tree 23 which supports the shoe 26 only from its toe-cap 21 and its vamp 28, and the remaining portion of the shoe is subject to the influence of gravity. Thus the toe-cap 21 and the vamp 28 are subjected to the weight of the shoe 26. When the shoe 26 is so supported, the weight of the shoe straightens the sole thereof, and also causes the toe-cap 21 and vamp 28 to bear against the shoe-tree 23 and conform to the shape of the shoe-tree 23, and effect the removal of the wrinkles from the toecap and vamp of the shoe.

Accordingly the use of the shoe holder thus provided reshapes a shoe after it has been worn to substantially its original shape, and consequently lengthens the wearable life of the shoe, improves its appearance, and prevents possible injury to the wearers foot.

In Figure 3, I disclose a somewhat difierent embodiment of the invention, comprising a plate 30 secured to a molding 3|, located in a clothespress or the like, and mounted on the plate 30 are two identical elongated members 32, spaced laterally with respect to each other, and extend upwardly at an angle with the vertical. The surfaces of the members 32 above the plate 30 are convexed, as indicated at 33 and terminate in a curved flanged tip 34. In this embodiment a shoe is suspended from the flanged tip 34 and the convex surface 33, and the weight of the shoe when so suspended straightens the sole of the shoe, and removes the wrinkles from the toe-cap and vamp of the shoe.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments herein disclosed accomplish at least the principal object of the invention, and that the construction is adaptable to a wide variety of uses, and embodies advantages other than those herein disclosed, and also that the embodiments may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and accordingly it will be understood that the above disclosures are illustrative only and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described, comprising: a support having aweb and a depending flange and adapted to be secured to the molding of a clothes press or the like; shoe engaging means; a member secured intermediate its ends to said support, a first portion of said member being disposed adjacent to at least a portion of said web and said depending flange, and a second portion angularly disposed with respect to said first portion and projecting laterally from said support, and a third portion, comprising the ends of said member, angularly disposed with respect to said second portion and aflixed to said shoe engaging means, said member being clamped in operative position by engagement of said first portion with said web, said depending flange and said molding when said support is secured to said molding.

2. A device of the character described, comprising: a support having a web and a depending flange and adapted to be secured to the molding of a clothes press or the like; shoe engaging means; a member secured intermediate its ends to said support, a, first portion of said member being disposed adjacent to at least a portion of said web and said depending flange, a second portion angularly disposed with respect to said first portion and projecting laterally from said support, and a third portion, comprising the ends of said member, angularly disposed with respect to said second portion and affixed to said shoe engaging means, said member being clamped in operative position by engagement of said first portion with said web, said depending flange and said molding when said support is secured to said molding, and said ends of said member supporting said shoe engaging means in a position operable to be inserted in a shoe, with the projecting extremity of said shoe engaging means disposed in supporting position in the toe of said shoe, said shoe engaging member being inclined upwardly from said support at a predetermined angle to the horizontal, 'to effect supporting engagement of said shoe therewith additionally only at a point spaced inwardly from said extremity adjacent the inner surface of the vamp portion of said shoe, to support said shoe from said toe and vamp portions in the manner of a cantilever, with the free unsupported remaining portion of the shoe under the influence of gravity exerting a turning force upon said shoe, opposed by the spaced points of support between said shoe engaging member and said shoe, whereby longitudinal straightening of said shoe is efiected when said shoe is in position on said device.

3. A shoe supporting device, comprising: a shoe holding member securable to a vertically extending supporting surface, having a portion projecting laterally from said supporting surface, and having a second portion angularly projecting from said laterally projecting portion and extending substantially parallel to said surface, and inclined upwardly with respect to the horizontal, and formed to engage within a shoe, the projecting extremity having means extending generally perpendicular to said surface and disposable in the toe of said shoe substantially parallel to the sole thereof, whereby said shoe is supported so that its longitudinal axis is substantially parallel to said surface, and the plane surface of the sole of said shoe is substantially perpendicular to said surface.

4. A shoe supporting device, comprising: a shoe holding member securable to a vertically extending supporting surface, having a portion projecting laterally from said supporting surface, and having a second portion angularly projecting from said laterally projecting portion and extending substantially parallel to said surface, and inclined at an angle upwardly with respect to the horizontal, said second portion being adapted to engage the inside of the bottom of said shoe near the toe thereof, and at a point on the inside of the vamp disposed between the first named point of engagement and the center of gravity of said shoe, the extremity of said projecting portion having means extending generally perpendicular to said surface and substantiallly parallel to the sole of said shoe when disposed within the toe thereof, whereby said shoe is supported so that its longitudinal axis is substantially parallel to said surface, and the plane surface of the sole of said shoe is substantially perpendicular to said surface, said angle being predetermined so that the resulting turning moment of the weight of said shoe about said second named point of engagement effects longitudinal straightening of said shoe.

5. A shoe-supporting device comprising: a shoe-holding member having one end shaped to fit in the toe cap of a shoe, and a vamp-supporting portion adjacent said end to underlie the vamp of the shoe and support the shoe at that point, said vamp-supporting portion presenting an upper convex surface shaped to conform to the shoe vamp, whereby pressing said portion against the vamp tends to smooth the vamp; and means for supporting said holding member in an upwardly extending position inclined to the vertical at such an angle that a. shoe placed thereon will lie with its toe on one side of said vamp-supporting portion and its center of gravity on the other side of said vamp-supporting portion, whereby the upward pressure tending to smooth the vamp is greater than the weight of the shoe; said shoe holding member comprising an extension projecting beyond said convex surface to engage with the inside of the toe of the shoe at or adjacent the insole and at the opposite side of said convex surface from the center of gravity of the shoe to prevent rotation of the shoe beyond the desired position on the device.

WILLIAM H. BROWN. 

